加拿大国际贸易部长曼因德尔·西杜周四表示，印度批准将IDBI银行战略性出售给总部位于多伦多的Fairfax金融控股有限公司（FFHL）的决定，对一家加拿大企业来说是一场“大胜”。西杜目前正率领加拿大贸易代表团访问印度。他在一份声明中表示，该交易价值约79亿加元，“涉及印度最大的银行之一IDBI银行，凸显了加拿大投资者在印度开展业务的巨大机遇。”
Canada’s minister of international trade Maninder Sidhu on Thursday called India’s decision to approve the strategic sale of IDBI Bank to the Toronto-headquartered Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (FFHL) a “big win” for a Canadian company. Sidhu is currently leading the Team Canada Trade Mission to India. In a statement, Sidhu said the deal was worth roughly CA$ 7.9 billion “involving IDBI Bank, one of India’s largest banks, highlighting the enormous opportunities for Canadian investors doing business in India.”
印度政府周三批准出售IDBI银行有限公司60.72%的股份，并将管理控制权转移给加拿大金融服务公司FFHL，其中30.48%来自政府持股，30.24%来自印度人寿保险公司持股。该交易价值52878.08亿卢比（约56亿美元），是有史以来规模最大的战略性撤资交易，也是外国金融服务公司在印度的最大投资。FFHL的印度裔董事长兼首席执行官普雷姆·瓦茨亚在一份声明中表示：“此次交易代表了一次千载难逢的机遇，可以在世界上增长最快的经济体之一购买一家银行的多数股权，并将其与一家成功且正在增长的保险公司以及同一司法管辖区内一家已建立的投资银行和财富管理服务提供商结合起来。”
The Cabinet approval on Wednesday was for sale of a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank Ltd, along with the transfer of management control to the Canadian financial services firm FFHL, with 30.48% coming from the government’s holding and 30.24% from that held by Life Insurance Corporation of India. It is worth ₹52,878.08 crore (US$ 5.6 billion) and marks the largest strategic disinvestment deal ever, and the largest investment by a foreign financial services company in India. In a statement, FFHL’s Indian-origin chairman and CEO Prem Watsa said, “This transaction represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase a majority interest in a bank in one of the world’s fastest growing economies and to combine it with a successful and growing insurance company and an established provider of investment banking and wealth management services in the same jurisdiction.”
他表示，FFHL“非常高兴被印度政府选中，成为收购政府在IDBI银行股权的买家”，并感谢印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪及其团队“在选定我们作为买家之前进行了高度透明和具有竞争力的流程”。他补充道：“我们向印度政府保证，我们致力于从印度打造世界上最卓越的金融机构。”今年5月，Fairfax收购了IIFL资本服务有限公司的多数股权，并成立了保险科技初创公司Digit Insurance。
He said FFHL was “very excited to be selected by the government of India to be the purchaser of the government’s interest in IDBI Bank” and he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team “for undertaking a highly transparent and competitive process before selecting us as the buyer”.“We assure the Indian government that we are committed to building the world’s finest financial institution from India,” he added. In May this year, Fairfax acquired a majority stake in IIFL Capital Services Limited. It also established the startup Digit Insurance.
瓦茨亚指出：“将IDBI银行、Digit和IIFL资本合并，将创建一个有利于参与印度市场持续增长和成功的实体，我们预计它将为印度消费者和企业带来有意义且重大的益处。”内阁的决定是在西杜和加拿大外交部长阿尼塔·阿南德都在新德里时宣布的。西杜于周三晚些时候前往孟买，因为贸易代表团已开始。近300名加拿大高管加入了代表团，这是30多年来规模最大的对印度代表团。
“Combining IDBI Bank, Digit, and IIFL Capital would create an entity that is well-positioned to participate in the continued growth and success of Indian markets, and we expect it will provide meaningful and significant benefits to Indian consumers and businesses,” Watsa noted. The Cabinet decision was announced as both Sidhu and Canada’s foreign minister Anita Anand were in New Delhi. Sidhu left for Mumbai later on Wednesday as the trade mission began. With nearly 300 Canadian executives joining the mission, it is the largest such delegation to India in over 30 years.
西杜还将在10月16日离开印度之前访问班加罗尔。西杜在德里和孟买会见了商务部长皮尤什·戈亚尔。加拿大外交部全球事务加拿大周二发布的一份声明称，两国正“加大努力，以达成一项互惠互利的协议”。该声明指的是全面经济伙伴关系协定（CEPA），其第五轮谈判刚刚在上周于渥太华结束。
Sidhu will also visit Bengaluru before leaving India on October 16. Sidhu met commerce minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi and Mumbai, and a release from Global Affairs Canada, Canada’s foreign ministry, on Tuesday said the two countries were “intensifying their efforts to conclude a mutually beneficial agreement.”That reference was to the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa), for which the fifth negotiating round concluded in Ottawa just last week.